Editorial: No smoke, yet, still under fire

2014-01-02 16:16:29

Cooler heads have prevailed at UC Irvine as the university chose not to implement a portion of the new and overzealous “UC Smoke & Tobacco Free Policy” that dealt with banning e-cigarettes, along with all tobacco-related products and paraphernalia from the 10-campus system.

“‘Smoke-free’ is the emphasis, considering the dangers of firsthand and secondhand cigarette smoke,” UCI spokesman Tom Vasich said in an email quoted by the Register.

It is important for Mr. Vasich to make that distinction, because, while the dangers of cigarette smoke are well-known, and awareness campaigns are laudable, e-cigarettes, which have gained popularity as smoking-cessation tools, emit nothing more than a nicotine-infused liquid that is heated into a vapor.

They are free of the smoke, tobacco and tar of a cigarette. Some e-cigarette cartridges don’t even contain nicotine, just a flavoring.

“When more scientific evidence is available that shows e-cigarettes are unhealthy, and that the vapor is unhealthy to others, the campus can further address the issue,” Mr. Vasich added.

And while these editorial pages have noted that, while it may be reasonable to restrict tobacco smoking because of the potential harm of secondhand smoke on others, no such cause exists for e-cigarettes. Especially when it has yet to be proven that people who inhale the nicotine-laced vapor harm anyone, including themselves.

But, lacking a scientific basis, the smoking cessationists’ quixotic crusade against e-cigarettes has really never appeared to be anything beyond disapproval of other people’s behavior. Opposition to anything perceived as condoning smoking, or disapproval of others’ lifestyle, are not enough to restrict the rights of a free people.